Vashist Muni development centre Under-14 side were crowned champions in the Navua/ Suva Development Centre competition at Vashist Muni Primary School grounds in Navua. Fiji Football Association development officer Ronald Ram said five development centre teams took part in the competition.

“Our development centre teams from Suva which had Suva Muslim Primary and Dheenbandhoo Primary School while Navua had Rampur Primary and Vashist Primary School 1 and 2. The five teams played round robin basis and the top four teams played in the semi-final,” he said. “Vashist Muni 2 defeated Rampur Primary Development Centre 1-0 in the first semi-final while Dheenbandoo Primary School Development Centre beat Rampur Primary DC 2-1 in the second semi-final.”

Ram said the final between Vashist Muni and Dheenbandoo was very competitive.

“Both teams played an excellent final and Vashist Muni were able to score a goal to claim the crown.”

The former stylish midfielder said the main objective for the competition is to see whether development is going well in the various development centres and are learning the right format and structure of training and the playing football.

“This was evaluated through the performance of the various centres during the competition and as a Fiji Football southern coordinator and development officers we want to ensure that the centre is working well and there is a success in developing and equipping our young players with basic football skills to create a pathway for them to become a better football players in the future upholding the Football Philosophy Of Fiji that is “Equality and Unity Through Football to Build A Better Fiji”.

“It’s also good to see the level of competition within the teams is very competitive and we have identified some of the talented players. The Under-14 competition ended with a great success with Vashist 2 came out as the winner.”

“On behalf of Fiji Football Association development programme we would like to acknowledge FIFA for the funding of the programme, the Fiji Football Referee Association Vimlesh, Salen and his son for their time and effort for refereeing.

This was highly appreciated the Vashist Muni head teacher Rajesh Prasad, the development centre coaches and officials, the parents, the caterers and all those who helped us in one way or another thus contributed to the success of the U14 competition in Navua for the Suva and Navua DC.